Missing in Action
by Harvest-Mooniac
Summary: Another "Town Life" story, but with a special twist. German doctor Bode Mendel just needed to pick up some folders from the hospital, but little did he know he was about to change his life completely. PLEASE REVIEW!
1. Chapter 1: MIA

Missing in Action

AN: I, in absolutely no way, own Animal Crossing or any of their characters. The events that happen in this story are completely fictional, and don't forget to review please! Also, the plot is heavily influenced by the plots of lotrfan2010 and Define-Originality. Also, I apologize for any grammatical mistakes.

The rain fell gently over northern Germany that morning. Little crystal teardrops, falling from the grayed and old face of the sky, washing and renewing life on earth. Later, the sun would rise, and anything touched by this miracle water would shine with even more beauty.

This is how Bode usually thought about the rain; however, as he stood in the airport terminal, waiting for his taxi to deliver him to Heidelberg, he watched the acid rain slap against the building. The rain caused the stone to smoke and sizzle, and the aftermath would cause many statues and buildings to look like Michael Jackson at the down slope of his career.

Bode Mendel had just graduated from Universität Bonn when he joined the army at the tender age of 22. He currently works for the medical corps, restoring injured soldiers to their former glory.

Bode sat back in the terminal, watching the sliding doors carefully. His image was reflected in the glass. He examined his dirty trench coat and boots, noting several tears in the arms, and a glasses case in the right chest pocket. He was also wearing a pair of rectangular glasses, which seemed to hang off his skinny face. His hair was a messy blond mess, which seemed to draw attention away from his scrawny underfed body. The glare from the sliding door, however, combined with his glasses, hid his blue eyes.

Suddenly, a taxi cab pulls up. The paint was supposed to be a shade of bright yellow on the taxis in Germany, but this one was a dull yellow, as if it had existed for several years and been washed in mud. No matter though. Bode sat up, picked up a plain black leather suitcase, and walked outside with a plain black umbrella. He unfurled it as he walked, and opened the taxi cab door.

"Heidelberg General Hospital pleases sir." Bode opened the suitcase and started flipping through some papers. He was going back to the hospital to pick up a project folder, and then he needed to get back to the army base as soon as possible.

"Aye matey! I'll have ya' there in no time flat!" The voice coming from the front of the bus reminded him of some sailors he'd seen on a visit to America.

The drive to Heidelberg General was about two hours, and the driver didn't stop asking questions.

"So boy, what's your profession? I used to be a sailor meself." "What school'd ya go to boy?" "Do ya like cucumbers? Got some in me glove compartment."

By the time they reached the hospital, the rain had stopped and Bode wanted to strangle the driver. Bode had never been a people person, he decided to become an army doctor for the simple but grim reason he figured half his patients would be too injured to start a conversation.

Bode entered and exited the gray stone building in the span of fifteen minutes. He stepped out through the revolving doors towards the cab with several folders in his arm. The folders were all different thicknesses, and they all had various colors of stamp on them. When bode entered the cab, he grabbed the suitcase and shoved the folders hastily into it so the nosey cab driver wouldn't see.

Bode snapped his seatbelt into place and leaned back with a sigh. "Take me to the airport please, I need to be back at base by tomorrow." Bode looked at the interior and examined everything closely.

The partition separating the driver and him was scratched and dirty and scratched. The seats were made of some sort of cheap imitation of leather, and torn heavily. The seat his suitcase was on was almost completely foam, and he thought he saw an insect escape into the foam.

The cab started to life, its ancient engine humming like an old man who's diet consisted mainly of Marlboros. Bode was looking at out the window when the driver decided to start asking questions.

"So boy, you got a place to live?" The driver asked with genuine concern in his voice.

Bode decided to just try talking a little. "Of course I do. I have a small apartment over in Munich." Bode decided not to tell him about how awful the apartment was. Instead of a crazy cat woman, he had a crazy dog woman. It's the same principal, but she howls with the stupid mutts each full moon.

"Well, I don't suppose you'd be interested in moving to a smaller town then?" Inquired the driver. The antisocial part of Bode instantly perked up a bit.

"Of course I would. However, my job prevents me from moving anywhere too far away from Germany." Bode needed the job, otherwise he'd be worse off then the dog lady.

"Well, ye can quit your job if ya' move boy. This town is a very special town indeed. Money is practically everywhere!" In a brief moment of ignorance, the driver throws his hands up for affect and almost shears a Volkswagen in half. He regains control though, and swerves into a rabbit.

"Well… I'm just not too sure. What's this town called anyways?" Bode picks his suitcase off the car floor and examines it carefully.

"The town's name is Epsilon boy, and so far there are only fifteen or so residents." The driver seemed to be getting more and more excited, which worried Bode to some degree. When did the German Public Transit companies start employing real estate agents as drivers?

"Well, I guess I could give this some consideration." Bode stated, knowing he'd never accept this deal on account of it being too good to be true. All his life, Bode had wanted to live in peace, and have a home that didn't smell like spoiled cabbage and dog leavings. However, He'd seen something else named Epsilon not too long ago, but he can't recall what it was. "By the way, what's your name sir?"

"Me? Well, my name's Kappn' lad!" In possibly yet another lapse in judgment, Kappn turned and faced towards Bode, letting him get a good look at his features.

Bode nearly had a heart attack when he saw Kappn. Bode knew immediately from his extensive studies in Japanese culture, that the thing driving him was a Kappa, or a monster that eats cucumbers and small children. He could see every detail perfectly. The matted black hair, the slimy, moss green scale, and Bode would've put serious money down saying that underneath the Operators Hat, his head was concave.

Bodes hand immediately shot for the door handle. He didn't care if the car was heading 120 down the autobahn, he'd have jumped anyways. However, Kappn locked the doors, so he couldn't escape.

"Sorry lad! Probably a mistake to let you see me face, but before I let ya move, you've had to have seen what yer in fer!" The car seemed to move faster as Kappn stepped hard on the breaks and pressed a few dashboard buttons.

As Kappn pressed the buttons, Bode reached for a small revolver he kept in his jacket at all times. However, before Bode could do anything, the stereo started to whir, and a strange purple smoke spewed out. Either the car was breaking down, or the Kappa was trying to drug him.

Unfortunately enough for Bode, the gas spread quickly through the passenger areas of the cab, and he was starting to get really tired. As Bode fell unconscious, he swore he heard the driver still talking to him.

"I'm really sorry about this lad, but I can't let ya tell anyone about this here encounter. I really do hope you enjoy your new life in Epsilon."

"Epsilon," thought Bode as the world got dimmer, "Why is that so familiar?"


	2. Chapter 2: Awakening

Chapter 2: The Awakening

When Bode woke up, he wasn't happy. His head was in terrible pain, he had just been kidnapped by a Japanese myth, and he was now in some strange office building. On top of all this, someone had taken the liberty of removing his clothes and replacing them with new ones.

Bode looked at himself for awhile on the ground. His trench coat was gone, and he was now wearing a shirt that reminded him of a magic eight-ball. It was completely black, save for a giant white dot in the center and a black number "8" in the center. Thankfully, he still had on the same jeans he had on when he was in the cab.

As he looked around from the ground level, he could tell he was in some sort of municipal office. The floor was made of wooden planks, which looked damp enough to douse a fire. The walls were made of plaster, with wood paneling at the bottom of the walls. Overall, the scheme was very bland, and dull. To his right, there was a large recycling dumpster which was white, with a large green lid on top. To the left, there was an ATM of sorts. Unlike other ATM's, this one didn't display the credits cards it accepted on its side paneling. Directly in front of Bode was a large wooden counter, which was a deep brownish shade.

Behind the counter came the clacking noise of an old typewriter. The clacks were all at least a half second before the next one followed, showing that whoever was operating it was skilled at typing, and probably was the secretary.

Now that he'd gathered his head, which still hurt like a chainsaw to the leg, Bode decided he wanted to get up. Trying to stand without support proved to be painful however, as Bode's legs were completely numb and weak. The first try resulted in Bode slipping, and hitting his head on the floor. The second try resulted in Bode getting to his feet, followed by them slipping out from under him and Bode smashing his chin on the wood. He decided his legs were useless, and crawled to the desk to see if anyone behind there could help him.

When he got to the counter, Bode began to claw his way up the counter side. The damp wood dented easily, and gave him a better grip. When he reached the top, he was facing towards the door, but could tell the secretary had stopped typing. The rhythmic clacking had stopped, and a voice perked up behind him. "Sir," chimed the voice like a set of bells, "if you need a wheel chair or crutches, I can grab something from the back."

In Bode's profession, if a woman was talking to you; it was usually thanking you for a file being delivered. So hearing something other than a request for another document or a wounded soldiers groan from a female was a godsend. Bode, however, remained calm and cool. "Thank you ma'am, a wheel-"Bode stopped mid sentence, as he turned and noticed something. The person behind him was a pelican! Not only was it a pelican, but it was a pelican wearing clothes and talking! However, Bode could tell it was definitely a female. No male would ever wear the outfit she wore. The pelican was wearing a purple dress, with a pink vest over it and a silk ribbon tying together the ends of the vest. She also had snowy white feathers, and an orange beak. She was a freak, however Bode would've admitted if anyone'd asked him, she was a nice and friendly looking freak.

The only things preventing bode from fainting again were a strong will, and a searing headache. He slumped against the counter in pain, as the headache flared up and he put a hand to his head. "Okay, I give, what's going on here?" Bode asked in a low rumble.

Pelly looked over him carefully, before a spark of recognition lighted up her eyes. "Oh! You must be Mr. Mendel! We're sorry about this, but since you know that there are walking talking animals, we'll have to keep you here for awhile." Pelly was shifting through some papers as she talked, removing a few from different folders and making a small stack to the side.

"But I can't stay here! I've got to get some important documents to a fort in Munich, I can't stay here for any amount of time!" The headache subsided for a brief moment, only to be replaced by fear and panic. His suitcase, which contained several documents with important medical secrets that needed to be reviewed by the military, was gone; "WHERE THE HELL IS MY SUITCASE!"

Pelly gave Bode another confused look before more recognition activated. "Oh, you mean the black leather suitcase you had in the cab? It's safely with Booker and Copper, our resident gate guards." She gave him a smile

Bode decided to just give in at this point, partly because the headache felt like it was about to kill him. Also, even if he was released back into a human society, Bode would probably be hunted down by the government and killed. After all, what excuse would he have for disappearing for days and then randomly reappearing? He could already hear himself saying, "I swear! Walking animals drugged me and took my stuff!"

Before Bode could decide whether to disembowel himself with a nearby pen, Pelly interrupted the thought process. "I'm going to need you to fill out these forms for citizenship before you do anything else sir, and if you don't, you won't be able to buy a house. You'll have to sleep in the great outdoors."

She'd said it all with a bright smile on her face, as if this were a joyous moment. Bode's face, however, was gray and sullen. In the span of possibly just one day, his life had come crashing down like a building without support beams. With all hope lost, Bode took a pen and some papers Pelly provided, and crawled over to a dusty bench he'd failed to notice earlier against a wall.

Despite how bleak things were, a tiny voice all the way in the back of his head, from a section sealed off with lead and Kevlar, started saying, "It'll be okay, trust me."


	3. Chapter 3: Citizenship

Chapter 3: Town Citizen Papers

AN: This is all just Information about Bode, sorry if it's not terribly funny or exciting.

Bode looked over the sheet of required information. The other sheets stapled to it were town rules and procedures. Bode filled the sheet out with the following information:

Full Name: Bode Gregory Mendel

Age: 24

Hobbies (List 4 only):

American Culture

Japanese Culture

Medicinal Studies

Reading

Country of Origin: Germany

Species: Human

Reason for Moving: KIDNAPPED!

Level of Education: College Graduate


End file.
